Meet the Boyfriend
by climbergirlio
Summary: Roshaun goes to school for a week with Dairine and meets her normal friends. Set after Games Wizards Play. Roshaun and Dairine are dating. Rated T.
1. Monday

**A/N: SO I've been reading a lot of these kind of stories in the Percy Jackson fandom, where an OC has a crush on one of the characters. So I thought I'd try it with Dairine and Roshaun. All rights to Diane Duane.**

~Kyle~

I was sitting science class, staring at her. Her gorgeous red hair looked hastily tied up and she was answering a question about sun dynamics or something. To be truthful, I had no idea what she was saying, but it all sounded very knowledgeable. Even Mr. Troff looked confused.

"Thank you Dairine, your knowledge on this topic astounds even me." Mr. Troff complimented.

"Oh. Yeah it's a big deal to one of my… friends." Dairine answered modestly.

I was wondering who she was talking about. Obviously not me. It wasn't Kaylin, Thomas, or Shane either. Maybe Becca? I doubted it. Sadly, even though we all sat together at lunch, making us de facto friends, none of us knew that much about Dairine. She was closest to Becca, and even Becca had never been to her house or done anything outside of school with her. We had sat with each other for two years now, so you'd think we'd be closer. Well, I have done various things with Shane and Thomas, and once I went for ice cream with everyone except Dairine after school, who said she had to do homework. She was a bit secretive and mysterious. I liked her anyways. I thought she liked me because she made fun of me in science when I didn't get the answers right. She also sometimes had this lovesick smile at lunch. Therefore, I had concluded that the great Dairine Callahan had a crush on me, Kyle Reeser.

The bell rang lifting me from my daydreams of the day I would ask her out. I headed to my next class, trying to come up with different approaches to asking her out, but they all seemed wrong. The way I asked her out had to reflect that I really liked her, that I wanted a real relationship and didn't just want a fling. I decided I'd ask her during science tomorrow while we were working, that had both upsides and downsides. Upside, if she said yes then I could enjoy our couple status at lunch. Downside, if she said no I would feel the humiliation and awkward tension whenever we spent time together. I weighed my options briefly. I was going to do it. Tomorrow was the day.

All this daydreaming had brought me to lunch where I sat at our usual table. Becca and Thomas were in a heated discussion about if there actually were alien microbes in our solar system. Dairine was looking at them with a small smile that seemed to say that she knew the right answer from personal experience. Finally, after Kaylin and Shane both sat down Dairine said something.

"There are definitely alien microbes in this solar system. On Titan in fact. I coach them in situational ethics. Nita and Kit seem to think that our solar system will be run over by delinquent microbes one day." She said this all dead serious. Everyone laughed. Becca and Thomas stopped arguing. Dairine always knew what to say to stop arguments and make everyone laugh. She pulled out a cold turkey sandwich.

"Curse you Neets! You were supposed to keep my sandwich warm. But noooo too busy with Kit I suppose," Dairine muttered loud enough for us to hear her. She leaned over her sandwich and whispered something. Then she sat up again and started eating happily.

Nita was Dairine's older sister. Kit was Nita's boyfriend. But only just recently, they had been friends for quite some time first. I pride myself on remembering everything I learn about Dairine herself or her family. On the rare occasion Dairine will tell us anything, it usually has to do with herself. I myself had an older brother in Dairine's sisters grade. He says that Nita and Kit are the biggest weirdos. Kit was one of those too smart for his own good kids, like Dairine, except she just was Dairine. Nita was smart as well, according to George. Everyone thought that they had something shady going on with them. However, Dairine said nothing shady was going on in any way, and I trusted her. Although she was a bit mysterious herself.

For example, at spring break two years ago, she had been seen at the mall with Carmela, the senior heartthrob girl and older sister to Kit. If that wasn't odd enough, they also had a group of teenage boys with awful fashion sense who spoke Japanese with them. When asked about how she knew Japanese, Dairine said that Japanese was a handy language. Actually, I haven't found a language she doesn't understand yet. I'm sure there was one, as no human being could know every language there was. But that wasn't the only weird thing about spring break. Dairine was gone for two weeks after spring break and returned looking like she had just fought a battle and only barely won. For weeks she refused to talk or say anything at lunch. We had all assumed that this was because something with her mom had come up over spring break. Her mom had died last year, so maybe the time of year had been when her mother fell ill or her birthday or something traumatic like that. When Becca told us what had happened though, she said Dairine hadn't said anything like that. Instead she had told Becca that a friend of hers had gone missing during a war. Why she had friends in Afghanistan, I would never be able to figure out. Maybe it was a family friend or something.

Well anyways, the lunch bell rang and I went off to choir. I had chosen choir because Dairine took it, but we had had to audition and she was placed a few levels ahead of me. So I had to sit through choir without her.

Soon the end of the day came. I jumped on the schoolbus with Shane since he lived in my neighborhood. We talked about how Dairine had been so matter of fact with her statement at lunch.

"Do you think she actually coaches microbes in situational ethics?" Shane asked incredulous.

"Naw man," I told him, "she was just trying to stop Becca and Thomas from arguing."

"But the way she said it, you could have believed it was true," Shane argued.

"Do you really think that that's possible? How would she even get to Titan and still be here at school? That's a really long journey. Like really long. No, she was just joking," I told Shane.

"You're right," Shane agrees.

"Course I am. Hoops at my place?"

We play for a while before I do my science homework. (That's the only class I want to get a good grade in, so I can impress Dairine.) All too soon my mother is yelling at me to get to bed. I am about to retort when I think of Dairine, how much she must want her mother to be yelling at her to get to bed. With that saddening thought I go to bed without complaint. My mom is pleasantly surprised and turns off my light and shuts the door. Soon I fall fast asleep.

* * *

~Dairine~

I left school thoroughly pleased to be done with it. Goodness, my supposed friends could get annoying. I liked Becca the most, but we had been friends for a long time. We had been friends before I even became a wizard. Thomas I had also been friends with for some time. Not as long as Becca, but still, we could be considered good friends. They both were intellectual and creative. As for Shane, he was kinda boring and very guy-ish. I put up with him now, and I probably could had I not been a wizard. Kaylin was pretty nice, but a total flirt and went through boyfriends like I went through pencils, which was odd as that was totally against her personality, if not for that aspect of her, we could be pretty good friends. Well, she liked gossip a bit too much also. Then, of course, she was a bit too girly, but overall, she was ok. As for Kyle, I would not be friends with them if I weren't a wizard who wasn't supposed to speed up entropy. Kyle was boring and didn't care about any subjects but science. He asked me wayyy to many questions about myself. But whatever, I was a wizard so I had more important things to worry about than who I sat with at lunch. The fate of the world for instance.

On my way home I stopped at Tom and Carl's. I chatted with Tom for a bit about my off-planet missions. (One on Wellakh) After the chat, I excused myself to go home and do some homework.

I had gotten about halfway done when Spot trotted in with an incoming manual call. It was from Roshaun. I quickly accepted it.

"Are you finally done with your education for the day?" came the voice instantly from the other end.

I glared at the richly dressed figure on the other side, "Roshaun you know perfectly well that I am not royalty and I cannot just drop everything to go places. The school board is already suspicious after seeing us come back from the Pullus War."

He smirked at me, "So you and my mother claim."

"Since when does Lady Miril have anything to do with this?" I asked.

"Oh the other day when I was complaining about how you had to stay on Earth until the weekend and only manual call so we can talk about different ways to stop the growing instability of Thahit. It's much harder over the manual."

"You think I don't know that?! I don't want to be at school, and if you spent a week here, you would know why-" I broke off, a plan forming.

"Oh. No." he sounded a bit worried, "I am not going to your _school,_ " he said very distastefully.

"No, it's a great idea. You can come to Earth and we can work on spells in all our free time. I'll call Millman right now. We can get some papers ready for registration. Do you still have your new world gate?"  
"Yes. I do." Roshaun sounded dejected.

"This will be so great," I told him with an evil smirk.

"Well, I am a bit short on lollipops…"

"See? That's The Powers That Be telling you to come here. You can set up your puptent in my room."

"Are you sure your father will be fine with that?" Roshuan asked.

"Well, he better be, because Nita was working on some spell in the basement with Kit and they still are working on how to get the purple smoke to disappear."

Just then Nita poked her head in, "Ah. You finally extended the invitation? Good."

"WHAT?!" both Roshaun and I yelped.

"I saw Roshaun coming here in a vision this morning. Well, I'm off to try again at that smoke, though something tells me that it won't go away until you both leave for Wellakh. Good luck at school Roshaun." And with that she was gone.

"If a visionary sees me coming, then I must go since the Aethyrs desire it so."

"When can we expect you?"

"Perhaps an hour of your time."

"So just enough time for me to clean up my room. See you then."

 _ **One hour later**_

I had just finished tidying my room up, and clearing a space for Roshaun's puptent, when Spot informed me of an incoming world gate. I hurried to the small patch of trees where I knew he would gate into. I reached the spot just as he popped out.

"Look who finally made it!" I exclaimed.

"You know that I had family matters to sort out. But my father likes your dad so it was easier than I predicted."

"Well, everyone likes my family we are just so-" he shut me up quite effectively, and I wasn't very sorry about it.

"Hmmm," I could practically hear the smirk in his voice, but couldn't see him, we were much too close for that, "and everyone practically worships my-" This time, I shut him up.

"Come on. You can put your puptent in my room." I told him.

"Surely not in your closet! The One could be down there for all we know."

"Oh be quiet. I don't have people attending to my every need all the time."  
"Well the attendants never clean my closet, my mother does that."

"Ah, yes. She'll do anything for her Roshaun tekeh," He glared at me, "Well it's true," I said.

We made our way past Nita and Kit who were choking on the weird purple smoke from the basement.

"Remind me to never try to dye the walls of the basement purple again as part of an experiment." Nita told Kit. He nodded enthusiastically. I rolled my eyes at both of them and continued toward my room.

When we got there, I showed Roshaun where he could put up the interface. He hung it up on the wall by the door. It sat there, inactive.

"Well, are you going to go in or what?" I asked, impatient, like always.

He rolled his eyes and turned towards it and opened it, stepping in. I followed. The inside was just as I remembered it, richly overdone and flowing in gems. The place was probably equal in price to my entire house. And all this was the stuff he just left in his puptent.

"I brought some clothes Lady Miril desired you to have." He said with a smirk.

"Oh. No." I said, full of dread. Usually when I was sent clothing it was fancy dresses and not the casual wear I preferred.

Roshaun went over to the grand dresser and pulled several packages out. I sat on a gilded couch and opened the first one. The fabric was emerald green and gauzy. It was thin and light, but not transparent or anything. The top had longish short sleeves and the fabric was layered in some places. The pants were best describable as capris, made of the same fabric and also layered a bit. There was the Wellakhit form of a headband, and slipper-like shoes also.

"I'll try it on." I said and went behind a screen to change.

"You are just going to change right now, right here?" Roshaun asked in surprise.

I rolled my eyes, "Not all of us have unlimited time around here."

Soon I had gotten into the outfit.

I opened the second package, this was the same except in a dark midnight blue. The third package was significantly heavier. I opened that to find a pale pink dress, covered in jewels. It had with it a large diamond on a pale pink chain and a bracelet that was similar. The shoes were again slipper-like and also covered in jewels.

"The first two outfits you can wear whenever," Roshaun informed me, "the third is for when we go to Wellakh this weekend."

"I'll wear the green one to school tomorrow," I said thoughtfully, "Speaking of. You are registered for school. Millman worked it out. Your family and my family are close. You moved rather suddenly to New York, for an unspecified amount of time. If people ask where you are from just say that you are living with me. Your name is Roshaun Wellakh. No middle name or any of your other names. I found a spell that makes people able to understand you as long as you are using the speech. As long as you have the spell active and 'on' you, people will understand you. Any questions?"

"Yes, one. What will my classes and so forth look like?"

"Oh! You have the same schedule as me! Millman fixed it so that could work. You also will sit by me in every class under the pretense that you don't speak much English. Which is true," I told him.

"Ah yes. I do not mind those arrangements." Roshaun said.

"Well then. We will have English class first, then Math class, then Science class, then Choir, then Lunch, then Art, then Technology, and finally History. Now let's do that spell."

And so we did. After a few hours of me going over my homework with him, working on solutions for Thahit, and lots of arguments we finally went to bed.

 **A/N: I know that it says all things understand the Speech, but for the purposes of this story, only the people that know it can.**


	2. Tuesday

~Kyle~

I went through my first few classes in a blur, waiting for Science. It finally came and I was there early, because Dairine usually was. To my surprise, she wasn't there, but that didn't bother me. I sat down next to my seat partner, Amanda. She nodded hello and looked back to her notebook. Justin, Dairine's seat partner walked in and Mr. Troff stopped him. They talked and Justin went back to sit in one of the groups that was missing their 4th person. Dairine still wasn't here, which had me worried. She was never late. Perhaps she was sick? But, no, she was hardly ever sick.

Nearly two seconds before the bell rang, the door opened and a girl flew in. Not a girl- Dairine! She was dressed so differently from her normal self that she was barely recognizable. She had on a flowing green top with matching bottoms and shoes that looked more like slippers. She also had a weird thing best described as a head band. Strangest of all, though was the large emerald at her throat. She never wore jewelry. Dairine went up to Mr. Troff and they had a quick conversation. All I could make out was new, called to office, late. That didn't make sense so I didn't bother trying to figure it out. Mr. Troff set us to work with our partner started a project about identifying other stars in space. Amanda was still doodling, so she was no help. Dairine knew a ton, but seemed distracted and kept looking at the door. Well, this was getting nowhere.

"Dairine," I began.

She looked over at me, annoyed.

"I was wondering if you would maybe like to-" I was cut off by the door opening rather loudly. Everyone turned to look.

A tall figure in emerald green came in. His hair was longer than any of the girls in our grade's hair. His top was vest looking, closed all the way down. His pants were sweatpant-like. A huge golden stone gleamed on a necklace around his throat. This was without doubt, the most good-looking guy I had ever seen. He actually was dressed very similarly to Dairine, the color of his outfit was even the same. That was a bit odd. He walked in the room and everyone followed his every move. Even Dairine, which annoyed me since normally she paid no attention to new students or late students, and she seemed to be staring at him. He walked up to Mr. Troff.

"You must be Roshaun?" Mr. Troff asked.

"I am he." said the newly revealed Roshaun. What was up with the way he talked? He had a really odd accent, like no other accent I had ever heard.

"You may sit down next to Miss Dairine there." Mr. Troff told him.

Roshaun sighed, "I expected as much. The office made it clear to me that she would show me around."

Dairine snickered just loud enough for me to hear. What was this about?!

Roshaun was walking towards us now and slid rather grandly into the desk. Mr. Troff told the class to get back to work, so I looked back at all the stars already marked.

"Thahit." Roshaun said pointing to a star on the map.

"Yeah. I thought we'd leave that for you." Dairine said sadly. She picked up a pencil and wrote out the name.

Wait, what? She was leaving a star for him? Did she even know him? Wait, if Dairine was showing him around, she must have know he was coming. Therefore, she must have saved some stars for him to label. Yeah, that was probably it. I was about to re-try asking her out when Dairine and Roshaun got into an argument about the name of one of the stars.

"I know that's the real name! I am putting down the name the teacher wants to see." Dairine was arguing.

"But that name is incorrect. And, you cannot lie." Roshaun was saying.

"It's not lying! I'm writing down what the teacher wants! Just because you insist upon being-" she started off in a different language. Roshaun made an odd movement and then spoke to her in that odd language.

The argument continued on in this odd language I had never heard of. Wait, she couldn't lie? That couldn't be true. Everyone can lie if they want to it's not like there is a disease that makes it so you cannot lie. I was beginning to wonder if these two already knew each other, they certainly were dressed alike, and they both knew this odd language. Dairine knew a lot of languages though, it was probably a coincidence. Mr. Troff was walking over.

"Dairine?" I asked, intending to warn her, but she didn't hear me.

"Dairine, Roshuan. Please stop yelling. Even if you are family friends and Dairine is coaching you in the finer points of English, that does not mean you get to yell at each other in foreign languages during class. How is your diagram?" Mr. Troff admonished.

Wait, they were family friends? So they obviously did know each other. Maybe I would have to wait until later when this guy wasn't here to ask her out.

"We finished the chart. They are all labeled with the names that are most commonly known here." Dairine glared at Roshaun.

Mr. Troff checked it over, using his key as a basis.

"It's almost perfect." he sounded stunned, "I've never had anyone get so close, not even on tests, in fact I don't know that many. There is only one problem. That small star there? You labeled it Thahit, and there is no star called Thahit visible from Earth." Mr. Troff said.

Dairine opened up her laptop. It pulled up a program by itself, which was a bit odd, but she had probably hit a key or something. She showed the program to Mr. Troff who seemed impressed.

"I stand corrected. 100% for all of you." Mr. Troff said and left to go visit the next group who was having an argument.

I just sat there, stunned. Obviously something was up with Dairine, this Roshaun character was bad news. Dressing her similar to him or maybe the other way around and getting her to incorrectly label stars in class sounded pretty bad to me. I came up with a plan.

"Dairine? How do you remember all those names? I'm very interested so that I can do well on the test," I bluffed.

She raised her eyebrows at me. I knew she would be skeptical, but she liked to feel superior, especially when it came to academics.

"So what you do is..." and she explained all these patterns and stuff. I tried to follow them, but it was no use. It did give me extra time to stare at her, and this would be okay since she was helping me. It also took her attention off Roshaun for a while so that was good. This gave me time to start enacting my second plan.

"You're not paying attention anymore!" she admonished.

"Sorry," I tried to look sheepish, "I did get most of that, how to pick out Sirius, stuff like that."

She rolled her eyes and went back to teasing Roshaun, this time about choir. He teased her right back, and when the bell rang they both went off together. Not even a "oh, bye Kyle" I usually get that. Then again, she usually says "Bye, Amanda, nice work today," to Amanda, even on the days Amanda slacks off, like today. She didn't say anything today to her either. I trudged off to my next class.

* * *

~Dairine~

I left Science so preoccupied with Roshaun I forgot to say anything to Amanda. This may not be a big deal to some other people, but I knew that Amanda's brother died of a rare heart disease, we sometimes used to go to talk to Millman together, and built one of those awkward I'm not quite sure if we are friends, but we're not acquaintances anymore kind of relationships. She was still struggling with the loss, I knew so I made a point of saying goodbye to her everyday. Oops. Roshaun sensed my mild distress and looked over at me questioningly.

"I just forgot to do something I really should have done." I told him.

Choir went reasonably well, except Roshaun refused to sing, so I covered for him as best as I could. We would have to change his schedule. I could probably find a way to squish him into the next door study hall. That would work nicely.

Before I was ready for it, it was lunch.

* * *

~Kyle~

Thank goodness it was finally lunch. We would get some answers about the weird Roshaun person. I sat down and made sure that everyone had taken up a lot of room. Just as I suspected, Dairine and her _companion_ were about five minutes late. Becca scooched to make room for Dairine, and I scooched to make room for Roshaun. That way they couldn't sit next to each other. A flicker of annoyance spread over Dairine's face, but she hid it well. As for the _other_ he showed no change in emotion at all. Becca and Dairine shared a look and Becca moved closer to Thomas. Dairine sat next to Becca, and much to my annoyance, Roshaun next to her.

"So guys, this is Roshaun, Roshaun meet-"

"It's so nice to see you again Roshaun," Becca began, but stopped when she got the cutting look Dairine aimed at her. Perhaps these two girls were a bit closer than I had calculated them to be. And how did Becca know Roshaun?

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Thomas, Dairine here has mentioned you a few times." The boys shook hands. What, what?! Thomas knew that this being existed? How did I not?

"Well, I'm Kyle," I said authoritatively, "and Dairine has absolutely never mentioned you."

"Kaylin. And OMG _where_ did you come from?" Dairine scowled at Kaylin, and Roshaun being oblivious answered,"oh, I'm staying with Dhairine's family while I work out some problems at home." He had this odd accent to the way he said Dairine.

"What do you mean problems at home, I'm Shane." Shane said this all very fast. "Oh. A drought, some problematic solar activity. That kind of thing. Really, I hope to be home quite soon," Roshaun said. Yes, yes, you should go home soon.

"Would you like to go for a shake?" Kaylin asked. Whoa. She was never that forward. She was definitely the hottest girl in our group, well other than Dairine, but she was stuck with us because she threw up on the head cheerleader on the first day two years ago,and Dairine and Becca protected her. But, Kaylin had no trouble getting guys and if she thought that Roshaun was hot, I had some serious competition for Dairine.

Roshaun paused for a moment as if getting information from someone.

"I have previous engagements on such activities," Roshaun declined.

"Oh. Okay. " Kaylin said, a bit disappointed.

Dairine looked around at the table, and I'm pretty sure her eyes rested on me for longer than they had anyone else, "but let's not talk about this now. Opinions on what today's lunch really is?"

Then Becca and Thomas were off, as I'm sure Dairine predicted they would be. Lunch was spent in normal fashion after that, us talking in small groups. Normally, I would talk to Shane, but he was busy talking (flirting) with Kaylin. He had liked her forever, and she was single at the moment. It didn't help that she had just thrown herself at Roshaun. The bell rang and Shane and I both walked off to class, more or less together.

"Girl problems." I told Shane sympathetically.

"Yeah. Wait. Do you like Kaylin too?" He asked, worried.

"Nope."

"Oh. Right. You like Dairine. Well, if Kaylin and I go out, and Becca and Thomas finally go out, then all we would need is for you and Dairine to get together and we would all be couples," Shane said, "well, there is my class, Have fun in choir."

I grimaced.

* * *

~Kaylin~

I watched Shane go. He was so oblivious. How many guys did I have to ask out in front of him before he took the hint? There are only so many ways to make a guy jealous.

"Why won't he take the hint?" I asked Becca.

"Hmmm. Dunno. I don't have much personal experience." Becca said, a bit absently.

"Rebecca Higley. Everyone knows that you and Thomas would make the cutest couple ever. He likes you and you like him. It even has a ship name, Thoecca."

Becca went several shades of crimson, "Well, we need a name for Roshaun and Dairine."

"But I thought that Roshaun 'had previous engagements on such activities'," I said, confused.

"Yeah. Not sure about that part, the phrasing is really weird. But he and Dairine are a couple. That much, at least she's told me," Becca shrugged.

"Oh. No. Do you think that I made Dairine super mad at me for hitting on Roshaun?" I was genuinely worried, Dairine was scary when she was mad.

Becca laughed, "No. I'll tell her your situation. She'll probably forgive you. But, seriously, ship names?"

I laughed, Becca could really get hung up on stuff sometimes. "How about Dairshaun? Or Roshine?"

"Hmmm. Neither of those sound quite right." Becca said, opening the art classroom door.

Dairine and Roshaun were seated next to each other. Becca and I went over to where they were bickering. I sat down across from Roshaun and Becca stopped to whisper something to Dairine before sliding in next to me. The teacher picked one person from each table of four to come and get supplies. Roshaun was picked from ours. This gave me time for gossip.

"How did you guys get together?" I asked.

"Oh. The usual thing. We were friends and everyone assumed that there was something there that wasn't. Then he disappeared for a year, and that was pretty hard, I mean we were really good friends. Then he came back and I realized that I was totally in love with my best friend. And I thought he liked me, but wasn't sure. All our friends were like, you guys like each other, and for a while we denied it, but this one instance, after wards he was just like, I do like you. And I said, I feel the same way. End of story." Dairine said.

Hmph. That gave me almost absolutely no juicy details. I supposed that Dairine meant for it to be that way, after all, she was a pretty private person. But seriously, no details on how long they had been dating? I had to find out more!

"You guys seem to hate each other though. How would a relationship like that even work?" I asked.

"Well, Bec and Thomas seem to hate each other. You ship them, if I remember correctly." Dairine said just a touch cuttingly.

"Well true, but Thomas does do stuff that is pretty sweet for Beccs sometimes," I said.

"Yeah," Dairine said.

"Hey!" Becca said, indignant, "I'm sitting right here."

"Well, it's true. You guys do like each other, and you do fight a lot," I said.

"And, Thomas does cute stuff for you. Notes in your locker at Valentines," Dairine pointed out.

"Wait, those were from him! But that's not his handwriting!" Becca said.

"Well, yeah, he wasn't sure if you felt the same so he told me to write exactly what he wanted on the card that he made. I gave it to Kit, so the writing would look boyish," Dairine explained.

"Wow," Becca said, "Very sophisticated."

Roshaun walked over, loaded with supplies. By far the most I'd seen all year. No wonder it took him so long.

"But what should I do?" Becca asked.

"Well I guess that depends, thanks Roshaun," Dairine said.

"What is this particular conversation about?" Roshaun inquired.

"Oh, Becca and Thomas and how they need to get together," Dairine replied.

"I would have thought that you of all people would avoid such types of conversation," Roshaun sounded genuinely surprised, the first time I had heard emotion slip into his voice.

"Oh, pfft. The past is the past and now I agree with them all anyways," Dairine stated.

"What do you mean that depends?" Becca asked.

I exchanged a look with Dairine and we seemed to be on the same page, a rare occurrence.

"Becca, Bec, Beccs, Becky," I used all her nicknames for effect. "Rebecca Higley." She rolled her eyes at me, and I continued, "It depends on if you like Thomas back or not."

"Well… Um… I mean… I…" Becca stuttered, red all over.

"So, she likes him," Dairine said, "Well now what you have to do is show him that you like him back."

Roshaun raised his eyebrows, "Dhairine, giving advice? Dhairine trying to be helpful? What has Earth come to?"  
Dairine scowled at him and said very sarcastically, "Oops, I forgot that I am not at all helpful. How about you move into the basement then?"

That seemed to shut him up, and made me wonder what Dairine's basement was like. Also, why did he say her name so weird?

"I have an idea. We should all have a sleepover tonight, well us girls anyways and get Becca and Thomas together!" I said.

"Sure." said Becca, "my parents will be fine with that, actually, they are out of town as of tonight and would prefer that I stayed with a friend. But, uh, my house is out, because well, my parents are gone. I don't really feel comfortable having friends over while the house is empty, my parents would be disappointed in me for betraying their trust."

"Oh. Well. My house is out as well, remember? It's being remodeled," I said

"Oh nope. Not happening," Dairine said.

"Awww why not?" I asked.

"Because I have a lot of homework and anyways I have to go over to a friend of my sister's house for dinner," Dairine replied, "anyways, it's a Tuesday night. The unspoken rule for sleepovers is never on a school day."

"We have to go over to Kit's house?" Roshaun sounded annoyed. He and Dairine glanced at each other and seemed to have a conversation, but both their faces revealed nothing.

"Who is Kit?" I asked.

"Her sister's boyfriend," Becca clarified.

"And Kit is nearly like my older brother at this point," Dairine added.

Wow. I had probably learned more about Dairine today than I had ever. I didn't even know that she wasn't single, much less that she had a foreign boyfriend. And what a boyfriend! He was hot, there was no denying it. He was also mysterious, even more so than Dairine. He was completely unreadable. And he had weird clothes. Which reminded me.

"Hey, Dairine," she looked up at me a touch annoyed, "what's with the new style?"

"Oh this," she tugged her shirt, "I wouldn't say that it was new. I just normally don't wear these kind of clothes to school."

Almost imperceptibly, Roshaun smirked while continuing to paint.

"Oh," I said. Silence reigned the table for the rest of art.

The bell rang, and we all hurried to pack up.

"Kaylin? Stop trying to make him jealous, he doesn't think you like him. None of us think you like him," Dairine offered.

She and Roshaun then left, silently, though I had the impression they were still talking. Maybe they could communicate by touch or something. Becca looked after them with an odd expression.

"It's good that he's here," she said softly and left.

Boy were my friends bonkers today. I shook my head and headed to my next class.

* * *

~Thomas~

Finally! It was history, the last class of the day. It even promised to be interesting because we were finally, finally getting new seats. I was pretty sure we had had the same dang seats for at least 2 months. This time, I could be put next to Becca! Or Dairine. Preferably Becca though. Not that I disliked Dairine, far from it, she was my closest friend other than Becca. But there is a difference from being friends and having a well, let's say, romantic interest in someone.

I stepped into the classroom and my heart sank, pods of four. Now even if I was with Becca it wouldn't matter, because there would be other people listening in on us whenever we tried to talk.

I went and found the small paper copy of the seating chart. I found my name, Thomas Dale. Next to me was, would you believe it, Rebecca Higley. And across from her was Dairine Callahan. This was great. The last person in our quartet was Roshaun Wellakh. Wow. This was really really great.

Pretty much, none of us payed attention in history. Becca and I talked and occasionally argued and Roshaun and Dairine whispered away in some odd foreign language. I didn't blame them. If I could talk without anyone but the person I was talking to understanding, I would too. A few times I saw Dairine looking at Becca and I with a slight smile on her face. Then again, she knew I liked Becca and who knows, maybe she knew Becca liked me. I hoped so. I'd ask her later. Becca and I talked until the bell rang, then she went off to one of her after school volunteer things.

I went off to look for Dairine. She was standing by her locker, alone. That surprised me.

"Where's Roshaun?" I asked.

She laughed more lighthearted than I had seen her in a long, long time, "Down at his locker, presumably trying to get it open."

"I'm surprised he's not here with you. I haven't seen you without him all day. You aren't sick of him yet?"

"I better not be, I still have all night long and the rest of this week, maybe longer."

"Wow," I was impressed.

She smiled, "I know you Thomas, and I know that you didn't just come to talk about Roshaun."

"Okay," I begin, "so you know about how I like Becca as...more than a friend. And everyone is always saying how we like each other and isn't it obvious, all that crap. But I really, really don't want to ruin our friendship, because living without her as a friend is worse than living without having a relationship."

Dairine looks at me, then says softly, "Thomas, everyone has that fear. Look at Nita and Kit, for example. They were best friends forever and ever. Everyone always pinned them as a couple. Nita took an interest to someone else, and they still pinned them as a couple. About a year or so ago now they did actually like each other like that. I'm sure they were especially fearful because of the unique form of friendship they had."

I sigh, "I know, but do you at least have any idea? You and Becca are fairly close, even though I know you have plenty of closer friends in your secret teenage spy organization."

She laughs a bit at the secret teenage spy organization. It's a name Becca came up with for all the things Dairine insisted she couldn't tell us, mostly when she was gone random days, or how she knew all the things she knew.

"All I can tell you is that the coded letter was from her."

"Dang! I still haven't figured that out."

She smirks, "Good luck. I came up with the code myself."

Roshaun comes towards us down the hall.

"So you finally figured the locker out then," Dairine teases.

He looks down at her, "No. I simply convinced it to open."

Dairine smirks again, "I know."

"Thanks for the advice," I tell Dairine.

"Yup. Catch ya tomorrow. We're going to the office to get _somebody_ out of choir _and_ tech," she informs me a bit gloatingly.

I hear their arguing voices as I head toward the exit doors. Maybe everything would be alright between Becca and I, then. It had certainly worked out okay for Dairine. She seemed happier and more open than I had ever seen her.

* * *

~Dairine~

"So what did you think of your first day of Earth school?" I ask nearly as soon as we are out of the office.

"It was much more tiring than I would have expected. Back home, we would never allow such long hours of _schooling_ , at least not that kind."

"What did you study?" I ask, curious.

"Wizardry and controlling Thahit, mostly. And general studies, but for far less time than you have it."

"Hmm," is all I say.

We spend the rest of the walk in companionable silence. I unlock the door to the house and follow Roshaun in. Almost immediately, he sticks his hand in the jar of lollipops. I roll my eyes, then wince when the lollipop crunches.

"You _really_ need to stop doing that," I tell him.

He, of course puts up his eyebrows and stalks out of the room.

A little bang of displaced air comes from the living room, announcing Nita.

"About two minutes too late. Before then, and you would have made it home before us."

Nita throws me a look, "I stayed a bit after school, that's all."

I noticed the tactful disregard for saying why she stayed 'a bit after school', and raised my eyebrows speculatively but made no comment. I myself wandered off to my room, harboring the firm intention to finish my homework rather quickly so I had time to work on the spell with Roshaun. I reached my room and began work. Soon enough Roshaun had joined me and we moved to his puptent. About halfway through my tedious math, I noticed Roshaun staring at me.

"What?" I ask.

"I've missed you," he says in the speech. Then, I'm kissing him, or he's kissing me. For a while, too.

Finally I put an end to it, "Roshaun, we've got to finish this. We really do have to go to Kit's for dinner. I don't know why, but we don't do it usually so there must be some reason."

I'm nearly finished with my homework when Nita pops her head into the puptent, "I thought I'd find you two in here. There is someone at the door who claims to be a friend of yours."

I sigh and follow Nita downstairs. To my utter disbelief, there stands Kyle.

* * *

~Kyle~

Since my plan to ask Dairine out in science failed, I decide to visit her house. When I ring the doorbell, It's Dairine's older sister who answers.

"Excuse me, is Dairine home? I'm a friend of hers from school," I say as politely as possible.

Dairine's sister looks a bit shocked and skeptical, "Uh I think she is up in her room. Doing homework. I hope."

She hoped? What on earth did that mean?

"I guess I'll go get her. Please wait here."

I wait in the hallway. It's a really plain hallway, which means I learn about zero about Dairine from it. I hear footsteps and Dairine comes into the hallway, following her sister.

"Uh, why are you here?" Dairine asks, straight off.

You would think she would be more pleased to see me than that. I had to summon the courage to come in here. I'd been staring at this house ever since I had found out this was where she lived. Granted, I'd only been down this road a few times.

"I came to-" I begin trying to think of an excuse.

Dairine sighed, "I really don't have time to help you with homework too."

She seemed a bit frustrated, like maybe she had been expecting me to say something different. Maybe she had been hoping I was going to ask her out.

"Dhairine? What does this mean?" an elegant voice asked.

I knew that voice and that weird accent too. It was Mr. Cold and Haughty himself. He came into the room as overbearing and self-consumed as he had been all day. The only thing different, however was that he was sucking on a lollipop. He gave me a skeptical look and bit down on the lollipop.

Both Dairine and her sister winced at the same time," _Roshaun!_ "

He merely reached into a pocket of his weird vest-like top and handed a lollipop to both of them. They shared a glance and then sighed and simultaneously began to work at the lollies.

"Kyle, if you need help with schoolwork, I suggest you go to the library. They have great resources and I doubt you'll be distracted by the books," she seemed a bit tired and annoyed, but at least she was actually trying to help me. I decided to just leave. There was always tomorrow. As I left I heard Dairine telling Roshaun she would just tell him the answers for history, since it didn't matter for him. So that was why she couldn't help me. Mr. Cold and Haughty needed help too.

* * *

~Dairine~

Kyle finally left, thank god, and Roshaun, Nita, and I all finished our homework. That left us to get ready for dinner and wait for dad to get home.

"So is this supposed to be formal or casual or what?" I ask.

"I actually have no idea. Let me check with Kit," Nita pulls out her manual and messages Kit.

"Looks like formal. Some sort of party about a pay raise Kit's Pop got."

"Oh yay," I mutter sarcastically.

Nita gives me a look that says she agrees.

I sigh deeply, "I guess I'd better change then. Maybe I can find one of the fancier outfits Lady Miril gave me."

"One of the dresses?" Roshaun questions, and I notice his seemingly indifferent manner of questioning.

"No, just a top and pants with jewels on it," I raise my eyebrows.

Roshaun nods (perhaps a bit sadly?) and together we head up the stairs into my room and we both go into his puptent.

"You first," he says, "I have more clothing than you do so it should be easier for me to coordinate with you."

Even I couldn't argue with that. But, I could make fun him for it, "only because you are way more into the whole clothing thing in general."

Oops, I'd definitely left him a door wide open there. Indeed, Roshaun replied "at least I have never been completely without any in your presence."

I blush at the memory and struggle to try and change the topic.

"Okay, moving on. Spot, do you mind accessing my closet on Wellakh?" I asked.

"Already working on it," came the reply.

I reached into the closet, which was beautifully organized. Lady Miril had probably done that. I tried not to ruin any of that organization while looking for what I wanted. Ultimately, I decided on a pale purple ensemble covered with tiny purple diamonds. It had the normal matching headband thingy and slippery shoes. They, too were covered in diamonds. The top, however was only lined with them on the edges and on the lower part. As soon as I came out from behind the screen, Roshaun assessed me.

Much to my surprise he smiled, "you look lovely Dairine." The compliment was soft and sincere.

I smiled back, "thanks."

We stood there for a moment, staring at each other. Then, he came over to me and touched his lips to mine. The kiss was a romantic one, not at all like most of ours, usually driven by some ulterior motive. I melted into the kiss, and we stayed there for some time. Finally, I gently pushed him away, "you've got to get ready. Nita will come up here soon enough. You know how she doesn't like to keep Kit waiting."

He sighed, "yes. I do want to represent my planet well."

I rolled my eyes, and just like that we were back to our usual dynamic.

At The Party

Nita rings the doorbell to the Rodriguez's house. Carmela answers and leads all of us inside, but not before commenting something to each one of us about our outfits.

"Neets!" Kit's voice rang across the house.

He comes over and gives her a hug. She hugs him right back.

"Hey Dari, Mr. Callahan. Roshaun," Kit acknowledges the rest of us as well.

"Hey Kit," I say.

Roshaun nods, "Dai."

"Roshaun, have you met Kit's parents?" Nita asks.

Roshaun looks a bit startled.

 _I guess I'm meeting the family already_ he thinks to me.

I laugh.

"No, I have not," he says aloud.

"C'mon! I'll introduce you. Ronan isn't here anyways," Carmela says, already tugging him through to the kitchen where there is a congregation of adults.

"Dairine! We were wondering when your family would show up. Kit'll be happy now," Kit's mama greets me.

"Mama, this is Roshaun. He's Dairine's boyfriend," Carmela intones with no traces of subtlety.

Rosahun gives a slight bow of his head.

I roll my eyes, "Sorry. He's a king and has bad manners."

Kit's mama laughs. "You must be the one who went missing. Kit mentioned you once or twice."

 _What he probably didn't mention was how I searched everywhere for you, pretty much every minute I wasn't in school for the first few months._

 _You did? Really?_

 _Yeah._

Kit's mama gives us a smile, "I won't bore you any longer. There are some kids in the living room. Kit should be in there, keeping an eye on the TV." Then, she turned and began talking to a man who seemed like a work colleague of Kit's Pop's.

The rest of the night passed without much incident. We returned home and I spent an hour or so talking to Roshaun about possible causes for the random instabilities Thahit had been experiencing. The cause was not the Lone Power, nor any of the usual ones Roshaun was used to. This was a different problem entirely, and we intended to find out what was causing it and how to fix it more permanently than the patch jobs we had been doing. Finally I exited the pup tent and readied myself for bed, as it was really rather late and I was tired. While Roshaun was in residence, I had taken to wearing my old Star Wars PJ's instead of my usual extra oversized T-shirt. Not that my oversized T wasn't appropriate or anything. And there was the Green Dress Incident, as I had taken to calling it, to think about as well. At the end of the day, though, Star Wars just seemed like the best way to go. Roshaun and I exchanged a quick goodnight kiss, then went to our respective beds.


	3. Wednesday

~Kyle~

I walk into science and I am annoyed that Dairine is already there, whispering to none other than Mr. Cold and Haughty. Because of course. The bell rings and Mr. Troff begins class by asking a question. Something about stars that goes way over my-and most of the kid's in our class'-heads. Dairine and Roshaun, though both raise their hands instantly. Mr. Troff looks very surprised. Evidently he looked this up to try and stump them.

Mr. Troff calls on Roshaun, who in turn gives Dairine a superior look. She glares at him. I can't help but feel as if this is good news for me. I am contemplating when all the sudden Dairine says something and then they start to argue, in English, thankfully.

"No. That is incorrect," Dairine begins, "you would have to have a more-"

"It is perfectly correct," Roshaun interrupts her, "and anyways, you would know much much less about this had it not been for me."

Guess we all know who the friend who liked stellar dynamics was now. Mr. Everyone is Inferior to Me. Ah I liked that nickname.

"And how do you figure that?" Dairine challenged, "I would like to remind you that I did have some experience with stars before I met you."

"But I was the one who left you the sunstone."

To my great surprise Dairine goes from being angry to being close to tears and in a soft voice she says, "and I'm supposed to be thankful for _that_?"

"Dhairine, you know that-" Roshaun cuts off, realizing that the entire class has been watching, transfixed. And, dang, for a moment I thought we were going to see some actual real human quality in Roshaun.

"May we leave the room momentarily?" Roshaun asks politely.

His face is back to it's usual mask, (not that it had really changed that much) but there is the very slightest hint of concern in his voice. Concern for who? Dairine? She hadn't said anything since the whole weird sunstone thing, and was looking at Roshaun like she couldn't quite understand who he was. She wasn't alone. The entire class probably felt like that. Mr. Troff nodded in response to Roshaun's question, and he and Dairine left.

Without the only two people who hadn't been lost since day one of this unit (well Mr. Everyone is Inferior to Me hadn't been there on the first day, but still) Mr. Troff had nobody to answer any of his queries.

About ten minutes later, Roshaun and Dairine re-appeared. I was surprised to note that Dairine was wearing clothes nearly exactly the same as yesterday's, except in blue. Roshaun was again dressed in the exact same shade. Perhaps Roshaun came from a country where it was customary to dress exactly like your cousin or something. That reminded me, I needed to find out how Roshaun knew Dairine. Mr. Troff was handing out worksheets again. I expected that Dairine would probably be the only one in the class to actually be able to get it right. Excluding _him_ of course.

Now was my opportunity, "So Dairine, how do you know Roshaun?"

She raised her eyebrows, "that's a personal question."

Well damm her and her _personal questions_ , "I was merely wondering how you knew someone from such a large distance away, as it seems."

She gives a quick laugh at the large distance away part. Then she says, a bit annoyed, "He and two other of my close friends were part of a sort of vacation exchange program. I signed myself up for one, only I got punished for doing so, and my sister went instead. I met him for the first time when he arrived at my house." They exchanged a look I couldn't read, and I again got the sense they were somehow having a conversation. Simultaneously, they turned back to the worksheet. I was briefly annoyed.

"How do you get signed up for something like that?" I ask.

"Oh, I very much doubt that you could," Roshaun replied, not even trying to hide his haughty tone.

"Oh and why is that?" I say, angry.

Roshaun opens his mouth, but Dairine beats him to it, "because Roshaun and I are part of a group that has the ability to arrange that kind of a thing." They are again, seeming to have a conversation.

"And this group encompasses the entire Earth?" I ask, skeptical.

The bell rings.

"It encompasses a whole lot more than that," Dairine says. Together, they walk up to Mr. Troff and turn in the worksheet. They then walk out together.

How would they be that close if they had only met in an exchange? Perhaps they had met a long while ago and had since become friends. Maybe the odd clothing choices was the sort of uniform for that group, and Dairine normally didn't wear hers since nobody from the group was here, but when Roshaun showed up, she decided she had to, because they were part of that weird group. And what was that bit about the weird sunstone? I'd never seen Dairine show much of any emotion other than annoyance. Obviously there was a lot more to Dairine than I had ever anticipated. I liked her even more in that instant, perhaps because she had just shared something about herself with me.

It was finally, finally lunch. I planned on getting Roshaun and Dairine to finally separate so I might finally ask Dairine out without him overhearing, it seemed more personal that way. To my very great annoyance, however, everyone at the table moved so that Dairine and Roshaun had practically no choice but to sit by each other. Well, everyone except Shane and I moved. I didn't get it. They had been practically attached to each other ever since I met Roshaun. They ought to have drove each other completely insane by this point. They certainly argued a lot. The thought that maybe they were dating crossed my mind, but dating someone overseas at our age was ridiculous. It was much to far to make a relationship work. And anyways, they didn't seem very couple-y. Roshaun never showed any emotion at all, so I really didn't understand how it would even be possible for him to be in a relationship. Therefore, I concluded that it was very unlikely that that was what was happening between them. And more to the point, Dairine wouldn't hide the fact that she had a boyfriend from Becca, at least I was fairly sure she wouldn't. And had Becca known, she would have told Kaylin, who would have told Shane, who would have told me. That was mostly how I found out what little I knew about Dairine.

That, however did not solve the problem that Dairine and Roshaun were on the opposite side of the table from me. Oh, yeah, and the fact that the table had lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Roshaun was eyeing his sandwich critically.

"Dhairine, what is in this particular delicacy? It's composition is rather odd."

Oh, so we were supposed to believe he had never seen a sandwich? Yeah, right.

"Roshaun, that's a sandwich. It's very similar to those weird little circle things you have," Dairine confirms my right to be suspicious to Roshaun having never seen a sandwich.

He eyed her sandwich, which was a particularly large one, "is it wise for you to eat that much?"

She glared at him, and I was shocked. It was very bad manners to comment on someone's size, but Dairine was really fit, it didn't even make sense.

"Roshaun, I swear, keep up the short jokes and you'll never get another lollipop."

He looked overbearingly amused and Dairine was glaring at him. Then, she sighed and reached into her lunchbag. Out came two lollipops, a strawberry and a Dulce de Leche looking one. She handed him the strawberry and they both lapsed into silence, working on the lollipops. The conversation for the rest of lunch continued without either of them.

The bell rang, and I swear that I heard Roshaun whisper as they were leaving the table, "Mine tastes better than yours."

I didn't see how he could know that, given the fact that neither of them had removed the lollies from their mouths once. Dairine glared at him.

I was just arriving to my 6th period study hall class when Dairine entered, of course with Roshaun tailing her. Dairine had a quick word with Mr. Troff-he was in charge of this study hall, then she left. Thomas had slid into the seat next to mine, there being a seating chart and all. Roshaun was also put at our table, though I should have figured because we had the only empty seat. He promptly took out a list, and I recognized Dairine's handwriting, but it was in a different language. At least I was pretty sure it was a list, it had numbers. The top (I was secretly reading it while pretending to consider a math question) said Dai Roshaun, and a bunch of things I couldn't make any sense of.

He then pulled out some papers and began to write. He had surprisingly nice handwriting, easily legible and very neat. I guess I really shouldn't have expected anything else. It fit completely with his general persona, but messy handwriting would have at least made it so he wasn't _completely_ inhuman. I wallowed in the world's injustice, and then went back to my math.

I was interrupted by a voice, "Excuse me, but could you please tell me the significance of the idiom, 'the pot called the kettle black'? Dhairine is most unhelpful," Roshaun says.

"Well you see…" Thomas begins and starts a lengthy explanation of symbols and the use of personification.

I am very confused, but Roshaun seems to be understanding. This annoys me greatly. His native language isn't even English (that much is obvious from his accent) and he is already doing better than me in every single dang class. Especially science, which is a class I actually make an effort in. He sweeps in and knows everything there is to know. I am so caught up in self pity that I don't even notice that they have stopped talking, or rather that Thomas has stopped talking. Roshaun hadn't really said anything.

"So Roshaun, where are you from?" I inquire.

"I am currently residing with Dhairine's family," he informed me with a royal like air.

How had I missed that?! "You are?!" I couldn't keep the incredulous tone out of my voice.

He looks at me, as overbearing as usual, "only temporarily."

I cannot really believe that Dairine's father was okay with a boy staying over at their house, but Mr. Troff had said that he was a family friend. Perhaps his parents were also staying there.

"So then your parents are also staying with Dairine?" I ask, trying to find out more.

"No. That would be most innapropriate. And either way, that domicile could fit few, and the _neighbors_ are so close. That would not be permitted at home."

I raised my eyebrows, but he did not elaborate. Somehow, I got the sense that I should really call him Mr. Everyone is Inferior to Me. It seems everything he said was carefully calculated. He was truly infuriating. The bell rang, and nearly instantly, Dairine was there. His eyes seemed to light up at the sight of her, but that was so short I might have imagined it. She smiled when she saw him, though. That annoyed me.

"Hi Kyle, bye Kyle, Roshaun, let's go."

Well, at least she acknowledged me, brief as it was.

"Oh hey Thomas, I forgot you were here too. Coming?"

The three of them left.

Well then. I packed up too and went off to my next class.

The last bell of the day rang, and I went off to catch the bus. There, I met Shane and we talked a bit on the way home. He was making real progress with Kaylin suddenly, and we had a theory that the whole time she was trying to make him jealous. Personally, I thought this was a stupid theory, but I didn't want to crush his hopes.

The bus arrived at my stop and I went home and actually did homework for once. Then, I texted with Shane a bit. He had been texting (flirting) with Kaylin, so he was in one of _those_ moods. Needless to say, we didn't talk real long before I changed to playing video games.

The rest of the night was really quite boring.

* * *

~Dairine~

As soon as we got home, I finished my homework. Roshaun had already done his in his two study halls. Then, we went down to the kitchen and snacked. Which meant that we were there when Nita came in.

Almost before she was even through the door she said, "don't _even_ start. At least he isn't sleeping in my bedroom."

Both Roshaun and I were sufficiently embarrassed not to say anything. Instead, I wordlessly handed Nita one of the sandwiches I had made. She accepted it and sat down at the table with her homework. Nita had always been someone who did their work at the table, where I was more of an in the room on the desk person.

Sandwiches thus made and consumed, we headed up to my room to work on Thahit more. What seemed like hours later it was time for dinner, the first one we had had since Roshaun had come to visit. Not that he hadn't eaten with us before, but never just him and my family. I was a bit nervous as to how it would go.

"Time for dinner, Roshaun. We can work more on this later," I inform him.

"As you wish," he smirks.

Together we head downstairs.

At first there is only painfully obvious silence. I feel a pang when I realize the last time dinners were spent in silence. Right after mom died. I feel Roshaun looking at me, he can usually feel my emotions, especially intense ones. I don't look up. If I'm right Nita is thinking the same thing I am.

"How has school been, Roshaun?" Dad asks. Oh thank you dad!

"Enlightening. I never realized how lengthy your education was, really," he replies.

"Yes. It really does take up quite a lot of time," Dad says.

The awkward silence thus breached, dinner turns out to be a nice affair.

For the rest of the night Roshaun and I work on our spell. When it's nearly 11 and we haven't made much progress, I yawn and excuse myself for bed. I have just finished slipping my Star Wars T-Shirt over my head when Roshaun comes in.

"No knock? I could have been in the middle of getting changed."

"Ah, but you weren't, and anyways, for the time being, this is my room as well."

I glare at him.

"And what is with all your inquisitive friends? They are irritating asking questions all the time," He proclaims

I sigh, "don't I know it. Becca and Thomas are fine, but they aren't like up for the universe's greatest friends. I pretty much only tell them stuff because they tell me a lot of things about themselves and it feels rude not to tell them anything about me in return. But the rest of them are just plain annoying."

He puts up his eyebrows at me. Then laughing softly he says, "goodnight Dhairine."

"Goodnight Roshaun," I slip under my Star Wars bedspread as he steps into his puptent.

I am in that odd state of half consciousness when a thought appears in the back of my head.

 _Dhairine?_

 _Ngh._

 _It is much too quiet._

 _So play some music,_ I roll my eyes.

 _No, then it sounds lonely._

 _How come this is only affecting you just now and not the past two nights?_

 _Because I was tired enough to fall asleep instantly. And besides it seems more apparent tonight._

 _What if I get you a fan? Would that help?_

 _What is a 'fan'?_

I groan and get out of bed laboriously.

 _This is really quite annoying._

There is no response, so I go all the way downstairs and open the basement door, only to be assaulted with foul purple smoke. Biting back obscenities, I mentally curse everyone who is even partially responsible for this midnight foray, and plunge, gagging, into the basement. How ironic that what this basement could most use-a fan, is why I came down here in the first place. Finally, I locate the fan and re-emerge from the basement of death, coughing and spluttering. He better be grateful and not wake me up again after this.

"One fan, Monsieur," I tell him with only a trace of the enormous annoyance that I feel. He gives me a look I can't read.

I set up the fan and trudge off to bed, snuggling into my warm covers.

 _Dhairine?_

 _Whatever is it now?_

 _Now it's cold._

 _Oh, for the One's sake turn the fan down lower or do a heat spell. Aren't pup tents supposed to keep you at the right heat?_

 _Not if you add external forces. Anyways the fan is on low, and I do not desire keeping a heat spell running all night, I would have no energy for tomorrow._

 _Okay, fine I'll get you a blanket._

I head to the linens closet and find a large heavy blanket. I stomp into his tent and practically knock him over when I throw it at him.

"Here," I say spitefully, "now it won't be too quiet and you can be warm and I can finally sleep."

I have finally gotten comfortable once more when I hear a small voice.

 _Dhairine._

I decide to ignore said small voice.

 _Dhairine!_

 _For goodness sakes what is it now?!_

 _This blanket has a most unusual smell._

I think about what blanket I gave him, and realize it's the one we usually take to bonfires, fireworks, picnics, and other such events. Oops.

 _Well you are going to either have to deal or take mine._

 _Why, thank you._

I am completely horrified when I realize what I have done to myself, but I get up and give it to him anyways.

"Does it have to be a Star Wars blanket?"

"One more word and you'll be glad that you ever had the delusions of feeling warm!" I practically yell at him.

He looks at me in amusement, then turns and leaves. I slink back to my bed and hide under my sheet, but it's no good, I'm freezing cold.

I stomp into the puptent, "I want my blanket back."

I'm nearly shivering now, and I'm not sure if it's because it's nearly 1 a.m. at this point, or if I really am just that cold or probably both. Roshaun eyes me in amusement, then pulls back the covers in his bed, making room for me. I stand there spluttering, then because I'm cold and tired, against my better judgement,

I slip into bed next to him. He pulls the blankets up over both of us, and despite myself I cuddle into the blankets. I feel Roshaun's arm circle me, and I move a bit closer to him. I fall asleep quickly.

 **A/N: That last bit was inspired by** **It's a F'thai Cold Night by Writey Starkid.**


	4. Thursday

I wake up and find myself facing a warm something. Then, I remember last night and I quickly spring away. Roshaun is already awake.

He laughs at me, "good morning."

"You planned that all, didn't you."

Roshaun smirks which basically answers my question. I'm not as mad at him as I would expect myself to be, partially because it was, in a very backhanded way, kind of sweet of him. Then I cough on residue of the purple smoke and glare at him.

"Do not expect me to be happy about this because I'm not," I inform him

He gives me a grin, "oh I don't."

With that we head down to breakfast, and Roshaun being Roshaun takes my hand on the way down.

* * *

~Kyle~

I groan when the Science door opens and, once more, Dairine is dressed exactly like Large Annoyance. Of course. I groan softly.

"Hey Amanda."

Amanda looks up and acknowledges Dairine. The table falls into a painful silence. So it's going to be one of those kind of days. Got it.

As the day goes on, it becomes apparent that, yeah, it is one of those days. I finally reach 7th period, and slide in next to Shane. (We're allowed to pick seats)

"Hey," I say.

"Hey," Shane seems a bit distracted.

We work in silence, a bit unusual for us.

Finally, Shane says something, "so you're still into firehead, right?"

"Don't call her that, and yeah I am. Why?" I ask.

"Well, there is just something you should know," he begins hesitantly.

I roll my eyes, "What?"

"She kinda has a boyfriend."

"What?!"

"Yeah, sorry man."

"But, how did this happen? Who is it?" I ask in utter shock.

"Who do you think? Roshaun of course."

"No. No. No. This can't be happening. I've liked her wayyy longer."

"Well Kaylin heard from Becca that Dairine missed a poker match this summer because she was visiting her boyfriend. And Becca met him this summer at Dairine's father's barbeque. They weren't dating then, though. Apparently he was also the one who went missing during/after spring break two years ago."

"And you know all this how?"

"Kaylin told me during our study hall, Becca told her yesterday."

I notice he's blushing.

"What else did he tell you," I ask with a sly tone.

"Well, she also asked me something."

I punch him lightly in the shoulder, "that makes one of us."

He smiles a bit of a lovesick smile, and I turn away, going back to the assignment. Neither of us says anything for the rest of class.

I walk out of class, thinking about her and how unfair it is. Back when we first joined the table two years ago, I remembered being absolutely terrified of Dairine, the girl who had cleaned everyone in the grade out of poker money, and who was really competent in martial arts. And that she was freakishly smart. At that point in time I had liked a girl named Chrissy, but not very seriously. About a year later, just after the whole spring break thing, I took and interest in Dairine. It was a crush, but not too serious of one. When we came back to school and I saw her the first day, I knew then and there I was probably in love. Apparently she'd had a boyfriend then, though. Which pretty much epically sucked. I am shaken out of my thoughts as I hear her voice.

"So since Nita will be staying after school anyways, how about we take a walk down to the park?" It's Dairine, and it's the perfect opportunity for spying.

I don't hear the reply as I am busy stepping into the shadows. I see them walk past, arguing playfully under their breath. Dairine is laughing, but Roshaun isn't. It's plainly an unhealthy relationship because he never shows any emotion, **ever**. They walk out the doors, and after a moment, I follow them. They do walk to the park, which is almost a block away. I follow discreetly through the gates after them. Luckily, they sit on a bench surrounded by bushes and trees, so I can sneak behind them without them noticing.

"Finally that tiring day has come to an end," Roshaun complains.

"Ahhhh so now you see the struggle."

"Yes, yes I do," he admits.

Dairine smiles, and my teeth clench, "Well either way it's nice to have you here."

Then she yawns and glares at him, "Then again, you _did_ keep me up until, what? One a.m.?"

He smirks at her, "Were you entirely displeased?"

To my horror, she blushes.

He nods at her, and then puts his arm around her shoulders. My insides burn with rage. Then, she snuggles into him. I get angrier.

"Only a bit more than month before us schooled people have winter break. My dad already is letting me go to your place, in fact he might be coming as well for part of the time. And your family will come to have Christmas with us."

"Oh, that holiday that you decorate the trees for."

"Yeah, last year we had Filf and Sker' and a bunch of other friends over at Kit and Carmela's," her voice quiets, "it was such great fun, I wish you could have been there."

He looks at her, but I can't see the expression on his face.

Then, Dairine stands abruptly, "we should get going home. With luck we can still be Neets."

"The fast way?"

"Better be," Dairine replies, "now let's find those bushes…"

Luckily she walks past me, and down the path. I, determined to find out more about her, follow silently. Roshaun grabs a lollipop from a pocket and puts it in his mouth. Dairine turns around to roll her eyes at him. I keep following. She turns a corner and…

"Ack!" she yelps. I nearly stand up to see what it is, but remember myself and sneak through the bushes instead. What it is, is Dairine's sister and her boyfriend, both bright red. I can guess what they were doing.

"Ohhh look what I found!" says Dairine.

"Not one word." Dairine's sister threatens, "he," she gestures to Roshaun who has a look of overbearing amusement, "is sleeping in your bedroom."

"Actually, I wouldn't say that," Dairine claims.

"You wouldn't now would you," Dairine's sister, Nita, raises her eyebrows.

Dairine and Roshaun exchange a look, but they are both good, I can't read what their faces say.

"I know exactly what you are thinking, and don't _even_ try it," Dairine's sister threatens.

Then the boy on the bench, Kit, says, "you two are so transparent."

"Are we?" challenges Roshaun.

Nita and Kit exchange a look, then they say together, "puptent."

Dairine, and even Roshaun a bit, look shocked.

Then Nita laughs, "we know because we have done the same thing. Even?"

Dairine takes the outstretched hand and shakes it. Then all four of them walk around the corner. I race quietly through the bushes, but when I get there, there is nothing to see.

I turn around and walk out of the park, utterly confused.

* * *

~Dairine~

We all arrive home together. Roshaun is instantly at the lollipop jar, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"Sooooo, what was your puptent adventure like?"

Nita laughs and begins the story.

"So we went over to Ronan's this summer, for a gaming group sleepover. Everyone brought puptents naturally, but somehow I forgot my blankets. I didn't want to do a heat spell because, by the time it was morning, it would be like I hadn't slept anyways."

"So then," Kit continues the story, "she came in to my place asking for an extra blanket, and the rest is history."

"Very similar to our own incident," Roshaun claims. I glare at him.

"Except ours involved a midnight foray into the basement of purple death. Neets, you need to fix that."

"Yeah, yeah. I _knew_ we should have tested it in the playroom. I have no idea which variable we got wrong, but we can't seem to find it."

"We were gonna work on that," Kit adds helpfully.

"Go ahead. Might it be smarter if we did our homework on the moon?" I inquire.

"Nah, the puptent should be fine," Nita says.

I grab my bag, and lead the way up the stairs, and to my room. We enter the puptent more or less together, and then begin to study. Or rather, I study while Roshaun messes around with his little ball of fire. Given that he has two study halls and I will tell him the answers for everything he doesn't know due to cultural differences during class, he already has all his work done. At some point, Roshaun moves from the chair he is sitting on across the room to the one I am on. We spend the night like that, comfortably. I even agree to sleep in his bed once more. Snuggling is growing on me.


	5. Friday

~Kyle~

I wake up and know today is going to be a bad day. It's Friday, the day that Dairine, Nita, Kit, and Carmela all have lunch together. Technically, they have the same lunch time on Wednesdays and every other Monday as well, but they always spend Fridays together. Why anyone would willingly eat lunch with their older sibling remains a mystery to me, but both Dairine and Kit did it. It also amazed me that Carmela would be seen with younger students, and fairly unpopular ones at that. She was the thing for all the boys of the senior class and, frankly, for most of the junior class as well. She apparently also had a mysterious overseas boyfriend. After meeting Roshaun, I was beginning to think that that was more and more possible.

I made my way to Science sullenly. Today was the last day before the test, the day we got the study guide and had all of class to work on it. It was also the last day with these seats. I was sad to see them go, because I probably would not be put with Dairine again. At least that meant that I could let my Science grade slip and she would never know. Suddenly, I had a brilliant idea. I walked up to Mr. Troff, who was sitting at his desk.

"Mr. Troff? I could really use some help for this test. I don't understand the material very well."

He appraises me, "you have made a reasonable effort in this class, so I can assist you. Do not expect to be able to slack off and still get assistance. I'll ask someone to tutor you later. Please take a seat."

I walk back to my seat, pleased with myself. I know he'll appoint Dairine, she's the smartest in the class. Just then, the girl herself walks in, Roshaun in tow, per usual. Today, they are dressed differently. Dairine has that large emerald showing at her throat still, but she is wearing her customary Star Wars T-shirt and cargos. This makes me irrationally happy. Roshaun is dressed in eye hurting gold that looks like all the other clothes he has had on.

Hut as they sit down Mr. Troff calls me and Dairine to the front. Just as I had planned. Dairine groans and Roshaun smirks at her. I stand and walk to Mr. Troff. Dairine more or less follows, though I doubt she's really happy about it.

"Dairine, you have shown excellent mastery of this particular subject in science, and your fellow classmate, Kyle has been struggling to put it mildly. Could you perhaps help him over the weekend?" Mr. Troff asks her.

"I am sorry, but I have plans for the weekend. I am leaving right after school and I do not plan to be back until late Sunday night or even possibly early Monday morning, depending on how things shake out," Dairine tells him.

"Oh. Where are you going for just the weekend?"

"I train with someone who lives quite a distance away."

"I see. Well, Kyle, I shall find you a different tutor," then he turns back to Dairine, "and what about Roshaun. Might he be available?"

"He will be going home," Dairine says.

Mr. Troff sighs, "I shall just help you myself during study hall. Both of you may take a seat."

I go back to where Roshaun and Amanda are seated. Roshuan looks as if he is writing in another language, but as I look closer, I realize that he isn't. Funny, I thought he didn't speak English. He obviously did, and quite well at that. Except for that odd accent. It was partially that odd language he often conversed in with Dairine, but mostly something else, because he still had that other part included in that language as well.

"Roshaun, what is your native language?" I ask, determined to find out something about him.

"I learned two from a young age, but they both have many offshoots. One much more than the other."

Well great. Be more helpful why don't you, "like, their names."

I see Roshaun and Dairine look at each other. Nothing changes in either of their faces, but they seem to have a conversation. I probably don't know either of them well enough to notice any of the slight changes of face, because obviously Kit and Nita could figure them out yesterday.

"One has no official name. Most people just know it as it is. The other my family knows as King's Speak," he gives away nothing, but I feel that he does not wish to tell me this.

I figure that useless crap is all I'm going to get for names, but it does intrigue me somewhat. I wonder if he could actually be royalty. Not that it really matters, since most monarchs are just figureheads nowadays.

"Oh. That's cool. I only really know English and a bit of French. It must be cool to be fluent in so many languages."

Roshaun looks at me coolly, "It is handy."

Dairine smirks, "how about you demonstrate some of your people's language to him? He's already heard your second language."

Roshaun raises his eyebrows at Dairine. I, too, am surprised. That was not really something she would normally suggest. Nevertheless, Roshaun turns to Dairine and says something in a language that is beautiful. Dairine answers him back, and then they whisper to each other like that for the rest of class. For all I know, it could be death threats to me.

The day trudges slowly on. Lunch is a bit interesting, as George tells me he is going to ask Carmela out. I watch the scene with interest. He slides over to the table. All of them look mad. Well, not Roshaun, and I can't see Kit's face, but whatever.

"Hey," George says to Carmela.

She gives him a quick once over, "say what you're gonna say and scram."

Not a real great start.

"Movies tonight?"

"Nope. I got plans that don't involve you."

"Oh and what, they involve these people? Honey, I'm much cooler than all them put together."

"Any of these people is preferable company to you."

George looks over the table, and when he sees Roshaun, something in his face changes, "oh. You have the weird Japanese kid with you again. I see."

Okay, now I'm confused.

"Oh. I see," Carmela's voice has a deadly quality to it, "you were one of those losers at the mall, was it two years ago now? No respect for other cultures. For the record, nobody here is Japanse, despite Roshaun's unfortunate resemblance to an anime character. Now please move before I ask my friend Dairine here to remove you, and trust me when I say that she is nobody you would ever want to reckon with. Actually, nobody here is anyone you would ever want to reckon with, they all can do things you have never even thought possible. Now scram!"

George does decide to scram. A good choice, considering Dairine's Jiu-Jitsu background. The funny thing is, when I sit back down I do realize Roshaun looks like an anime character. It's so glaringly obvious I can't believe I never noticed it before.

The day finishes, and I leave my last class, walking to the bus stop. Then, I change my mind and walk to Dairine's house. I get there and ring the doorbell. Nita opens it.

"I was only wondering if Dairine was home. I need help with Science, and she is the best person for that."

"She left like five minutes ago."

I nod and Nita closes the door. She obviously got home from school fast. I know that I got out of my last class a bit late, but not that late. She would have had to run all the way back. I couldn't picture Roshaun ever doing that, so I assumed that she wouldn't have either. I walked back to the bus stop, and caught a ride home. I played video games the rest of the night.


	6. A Span of Many Weeks

~Kyle~

On Monday morning, science rolls around and I sit glumly in my chair, ready to fail. The desks are in rows, for testing. Dairine is already seated, with Roshaun nowhere in sight. I do a mental happy dance at this. She is wearing an outfit that is, however, similar to her style choices of the main portion of the last week. A star wars T-Shirt over those weird capri pants in grey, oh and the weird footwear as well.

She nods hello to me as she sees me looking at her, then goes back to what she is doodling. I start at that. Dairine never doodles, she is just not the type. Before I get the chance to investigate, however, the bell rings and Mr. Troff starts passing out the tests. Dairine finishes early and spends her time staring out the window, which is also unlike her.

Lunch rolls around and Dairine is pretty much listless. Nita comes over to talk to her, and Dairine leaves with her.

"What happened to her?" Kaylin asks.

Becca shakes her head, "I don't know. Maybe she's missing Roshaun?"

"You don't think they broke up do you?" I ask, trying not to sound eager.

Becca shakes her head, "these days, I don't know Dairine that well, but I'd say no. She'd be more angry had they broken up. I suspect she is just a bit tired and lonely."

Everyone accepts this as an answer and goes on with lunch. I'm a bit of a fifth wheel, as Becca and Thomas finally confessed and got together at this weekend's poker match. Thomas told me all about it earlier. Dairine was not, in fact, present at said poker match.

The weeks went on, and Dairine began drifting away from us, spending more time with her sister and Kit. She still sat with us when they had different lunch periods, but it wasn't the same.

Eventually, the eve of the winter dance dawned. Becca had convinced Dairine to come to the dance, and I assumed she was coming alone. I was excited, as this was my chance to get Dairine to really see me. Maybe she'd even dance with me.

I arrived at the dance early, with Shane in tow. We were both in dress shirts and nice pants, pretty much all you needed for people our age. The seniors and juniors were much more dressed up.

Finally, our friends began to arrive. Kaylin was looking really pretty in a lavender semi formal dress, and Becca and Thomas wore complementary outfits. Becca had a small corsage. Since the dance hadn't officially started yet, we stood and talked for a bit.

Finally, annoyed, Becca asked, "where on earth is Dairine? I told her ten minutes before and the dance is about to officially start!"

Just then, she walked through the door. Much to everyone's surprise, she was not in dress pants and a moderately nice shirt. She was in a floor length golden gown. Her red hair was down and beautifully combed. The dress itself was strapless, but there was a silky nearly transparent top part that had sleeves going past her hands. I was really excited until I saw a tall figure in equally splendid gold step out of the shadows behind her. I ground my teeth in frustration to see Roshaun.

Dairine spotted us and mad her way over, Roshaun in tow, "I came."

Becca laughed, "I see that. You need the extra pocket money."

Dairine grinned an evil grin, "well that certainly persuaded me."

Roshaun looked at her, "this whole thing was for poker?"

"Oh don't worry. You can play too! I could use the extra cash," she told him.

"I knew this was a terrible idea."

She smiled at him, "of course it was."

Just then, the music starts up. It's an upbeat tune, but still dance danceable.

Roshaun bows to Dairine, "may I have this dance my lady?"

She smacks him lightly, "don't call me your lady, and yeah."

As they walk off I hear Roshaun say, "and why not? You already are practically the Princess anyway."

The Princess? Surely he had to be joking. Did that mean he was a Prince? They dance together for a few songs before coming back over. Roshaun leaves to go get them drinks, the perfect gentleman.

"Did I hear Roshaun say earlier that you were practically a princess?"

Dairine nods very seriously, "Roshaun is King of and alien planet. His parents adore me, and since I am younger than them and practically their daughter, I am practically the Princess," then she frowns, "or he could have meant that we were almost married."

I nod, playing along. Obviously she isn't telling the truth because if Roshaun were from an alien planet it would take thousands of years to get there. The night drags on. At one point, Roshaun steps out to go to the bathroom.

I take this as my window of opportunity. Before I can talk myself out of it, I walk over to Dairine and kiss her, smack on the lips. She shoves me away hard, and gives me a punch in the stomach. Then, she washes her mouth out with water.

I can't help but feel a little hurt. She glares at me from across the room, and goes to find Roshaun. I don't hear the conversation, but they are obviously talking about what just happened. I feel a seed of hope sprout inside me. Perhaps Roshaun will be so mad at her that they break up. Instead, he leans down and kisses her hard, pulling her closer to him. She responds enthusiastically until one of the teachers kicks them out. Somehow, I doubt they care.

At least I planted that little seed inside Dairine. Perhaps one day she would break up with Roshaun and we would fall in love.

That, however, does not happen. I am frozen out by both Becca and Thomas for two weeks, and by Kaylin for a week. Shane, however, remains loyal. Dairine pretty much hates my guts. A danger of going the route I did, though it could have worked out so well.

One day after school I am walking through the park. I feel a tap on my shoulder. It's Thomas. He points to a bench and I sit. He paces.

"Kyle, I get that you may like Dairine, but your little stunt right before break was way out of line. She has a boyfriend, after all! And the fact that you keep trying to break them up," here he pauses, "and don't deny it, I've seen the letters you've written to Dairine pretending to be Roshaun, is really low. I speak for both Becca and I when I say that we no longer wish to be your friends. And I'd be careful, because much more and Kaylin will follow us too."

Then, Thomas leaves, throwing me a look as he goes. I sit on the bench, not as disappointed as I should be. In fact, I feel invigorated.

* * *

~Dairine~

I open my locker to yet another note. I already know pretty much what it says and who it's from. It's another note written by 'Roshaun' breaking up with me. It's actually from Kyle. I grind up the paper, and chuck it across the hallway into the trash.

Then, I make up my mind to settle this once and for all. I set out to find Kyle and give him a taste of my rage, though just a taste because I am a wizard, after all.

* * *

~Kyle~

I'm still on the park bench when a shadow falls across me. It's Dairine. I stand quickly. She kicks me hard in the leg and I go flailing backwards.

"That was for Roshaun, because in this terrible mess you hurt him too," she claims.

She delivers kick and hit after kick and hit, each time telling me what I did wrong. Then, she turns towards the sky.

"You understand that I had to do this because otherwise he will just cause more damage. This way, he learns his lesson." She gives me a hateful look that I used to find cute, then leaves me on the ground, friendless and in pain.

The next day at school is hard, but I understand. I find a new place in the social scale and I don't exactly like it, but I can't really do anything about it either. I did not turn Dairine in, because part of me felt like maybe I got what I deserved. Maybe it was too late, but I had changed. I realized that everyone has different things that make them happy. I learned that I was going to have to respect that.

So maybe I was completely outside the social circle, and maybe everyone in it hated me, but for right now that was okay, because I kind of hated myself too. One thing was clear though, in the future if any of the girls I liked had a boyfriend, it was probably best that I never met them.

 **A/N: Sorry the ending was a little abrupt, I actually drafted two different ones, but this was better.**


End file.
